TOLEDO, Iowa (KCRG) – More than 900 Tama County residents signed a petition to put a measure on the November ballot asking whether the county board of supervisors should remain at five members or return to three. The number of signatures exceeds the 10% of county voters required to place the measure on the ballot. In 2022, Tama County voted to allow five members on the board of supervisors. Those five members took their seats at the beginning of 2025. Supervisor Heather Knebel said the county may eventually be able to return to three supervisors but said now is not the time. “Every day we’re finding things that need fixed. I think having five people and the oversight is just…having that many people, you have to get three yeses. That’s a lot harder than two,” Knebel said. When the five-member board started in January 2025, it found the previous board had over-budgeted county funds by nearly $1 million. The county’s annual budget is now $3.7 million in the positive. This is the second time in four years Tama County voters will decide how their government is shaped. If approved, the change would not take effect until the next general election, two years from now.
DUBUQUE COUNTY, Iowa (KCRG) – An ethics complaint has been filed against Iowa State Representative Shannon Lundgren (R-Peosta) after she used her official position for a personal communication to a sentencing judge for a man convicted of sex acts with a child. North Iowa Fights Back, a political advocacy group from Mason City, alleges Lundgren sent a letter to a sentencing judge, “as a character witness for Dave Lehmann.” Lehmann was convicted of lascivious acts with a child in 2022 and was sentenced to ten years in prison. After the Iowa Court of Appeals overturned the conviction in 2024, he had another trial where he was once again found guilty in April of this year, facing another ten-year sentence. The judge presiding over the case suspended the sentence, meaning he will avoid prison if he serves a five-year probation. Lehmann will still have to register as a sex offender. In the letter, Lundgren identified herself as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives, and used official Iowa House letterhead and other office resources for the communication. Kaylara Hoadley with North Iowa Fights Back said she’s requesting a formal review of the communication. Hoadley shared in a statement, “When an elected official uses the authority and resources of their public office in a personal matter, I believe the public deserves to know whether that use was appropriate and consistent with the ethical standards expected of Iowa legislators. This complaint is simply a request for an independent review and determination based on the facts.”
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The Cedar Rapids Police Department says four people were arrested after two vehicles were reported to be in a chase Sunday evening. Officers received multiple 911 calls about two vehicles in a chase with shots fired around 7:38 p.m. Sunday. Officers were able to locate two vehicles on the 1500 block of 8th Street Southwest. Both vehicles were damaged and one had been run off the road. One witness told officers that one of the drivers ran their vehicle into the other, which made it hit a tree. Officers found a four-year-old girl in one of the vehicles. Following an investigation, officers took four people to the Linn County Jail. Jaylan Bentley, 26, of Cedar Rapids, was arrested for child endangerment, a one-way traffic violation, driving without a valid license, and reckless driving. Lamya Wright, 27, of Cedar Rapids, was arrested for child endangerment. Lawrence Jefferson, 30, of Matteson, Illinois, was arrested for intimidation with a weapon and an outstanding warrant. Lamonra O’Neal, 25, of Matteson, Illinois, was arrested for child endangerment, obstructing prosecution, failure to use child safety restraints, a one-way traffic violation, and reckless driving.
MUSCATINE, Iowa (KWQC/KCRG) – A man was arrested on Monday, accused of robbing U.S. Bank in Muscatine. According to the Muscatine Police Department, at 9:05 a.m., officers responded to the bank, located at 1800 Park Ave and began looking for the suspect who had left the scene. A Muscatine County deputy saw the suspect’s vehicle going north on Highway 38 and called in additional law enforcement to assist. An Iowa State Trooper pulled the suspect’s vehicle over just north of Highway 6. Law enforcement arrested Mathew Rawson, 38, of Coralville. He was charged with one count of armed robbery with additional charges pending. Rawson was taken to the Muscatine County Jail. In July, Rawson was charged in Johnson County after he damaged a credit union’s drive-up ATM with several tools, including a sledgehammer, pick axe and other tools. Police said he caused around $40,000 in damage. For that case, he pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal mischief. He was given a suspended five-year sentence and placed on three-years of probation.
